Mentally disturbed man who raped and killed woman on run

Whitehouse, now 56, is serving a life term for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after he battered 21-year-old Suzanne Bromiley over the head with a brick

A mentally disturbed man who raped and killed a woman while on home release from prison in the 1990s has absconded from custody again.

The alarm was raised after killer Keith Whitehouse failed to appear for roll call at Leyhill open prison in South Gloucestershire at 8.15pm on Saturday. 

He was last seen three-and-a-half hours earlier.

Whitehouse, now 56, is serving a life term for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after he battered 21-year-old Suzanne Bromiley over the head with a brick after forcing her to have sex at knife-point in a graveyard in 1991. 

He also stabbed her in the head. She was identified by her dental records. 

Whitehouse committed the crime during five days’ leave from Risley jail, Warrington, where he was serving a 30-month sentence for kidnap.

No one looked for Whitehouse – who was known to have a psychopathic personality disorder – for more than four months until he attacked Ms Bromiley in Brighton after meeting her at a day centre for unemployed people.

The fugitive is described as a white man, 6ft 5ins tall, of slim build, with short grey hair, grey moustache and a goatee-style beard. 

He has an eagle tattoo on his left arm and a leopard on his right arm.

He has links to the West Midlands and Brighton.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: ‘If you see him, he should not be approached and you should call 999.’ 

Psychiatric reports describe Whitehouse as a ‘very dangerous, sadomasochistic, sexual psychopath’.

In June 1990, he was sentenced to a total of 30 months for assault with intent to rob, kidnap and possession of an offensive weapon.

The alarm was raised after killer Keith Whitehouse failed to appear for roll call at Leyhill open prison (pictured) in South Gloucestershire at 8.15pm on Saturday

The alarm was raised after killer Keith Whitehouse failed to appear for roll call at Leyhill open prison (pictured) in South Gloucestershire at 8.15pm on Saturday

A psychiatric report for the court by a Dr Hashmi described Whitehouse as a ‘recidivist’ or persistent offender, and ‘an anti-social psychopath’ but ‘not psychiatrically ill’. 

In 1995, Suzanne’s mother, Dawn, sued the Home Office for negligence but her case was thrown out. 

She later took her argument to the European Court of Human Rights in 1999, but was unsuccessful. 

A 1994 report in the Independent on Sunday found that Whitehouse should never have been released from Risley jail because he was ‘ineligible’. 

The paper also reported that when telling New Scotland Yard about Whitehouse’s escape, the prison failed to place his name on the Police National Computer. 



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